The congregation at St Mary’s Catholic Church, South Brisbane had until December 1 to make a response to concerns raised by Archbishop John Bathersby earlier this year about liturgical practices in that parish.Over several years members of Opus Dei, the reactionary watchdog of lay people in the Catholic Church, have laid complaints about St Mary’s which have been forwarded to The Vatican.
The following article is an attempt by a member of the congregation to clarify an issue that may be at the heart of the matter.
These ideas were presented in a homily given at St Mary’s in September. They are based on the idea that close to the core of the controversy are different concepts about the nature of the Church.
The congregation, broadly speaking, appears to have a different concept of the Church to that expressed by those who
complain about St Mary’s,and perhaps also different from the concept which dominates among Church authorities.
By Dermot Dorgan
In August Archbishop John Bathersby was quoted in the press as saying, in relation to St Mary’s, that if you’re in a club, you keep the rules of the club. This seems to point to an idea of the Church as a glorified club.In a club, there is a register of members, a committee which makes the by-laws, a subscription to be paid.
Membership of the club demands that you pay your subscription, observe the by-laws and show your membership badge or number when required.
That’s the glue that keeps the members together and distinguishes them from non-members. If you don’t do these things you should not have access to club facilities and activities.
This is an idea of the Church that many of us grew up with. It’s very clear-cut, black and white and relatively easy to manage. But it’s not the only idea or image of the Church. There are others which are more imaginative, richer in theology and more biblically based.
At the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, when all the Catholic bishops of the world came together with many theologians and advisers, there was a passionate debate about the nature of the Church.
Eventually a long document was issued which was the fruit of these discussions. It was called the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, sometimes referred to by the first two words of the Latin text – Lumen Gentium (Light to the Peoples).
The first chapter of this document refers to more than a dozen ways of thinking about the Church. Below are a few of the images of the Church suggested by the Council: • A sort of sacrament
• The kingdom of God now present in mystery
• A people made one by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
• A mystery
• The flock of Christ
• The vineyard of God
• The temple of the Holy Spirit
• The initial budding forth of the kingdom announced by Jesus
• The new people of God
• A pilgrim in a foreign land.
Last of all, the Church is also referred to as “a society furnished with hierarchical agencies…constituted and organised in the world as a society”.
So in addition to thinking of the Church as a club, or society, it is possible, legitimate and orthodox to think of the Church in any one of these other ways also.
Each of these images puts the emphasis on different aspects of the inexpressible reality of the Church.
Speaking personally, the image I find most powerful is that of the new people of God – a reference to the people of Israel, wandering in the wilderness in search of the Promised Land.
The promised land we are in search of is the fullness of the reign of God, as announced by Jesus – an era when peace, justice, truth and love will reign.
I have this image of a people in movement towards a common goal. It’s an untidy crowd, not all marching in step, not in uniform, some progressing faster than others, some keen on short-cuts, others not.
What is important is the common vision and goal, rather than uniformity or conformity within the community.
In the work I do in the Church, I don’t think it matters if the person working beside me is a Catholic or not. It doesn’t matter if he or she is divorced or gay or a lapsed Catholic or a member of another religion.
It’s an untidy crowd, not all
marching in step, not in uniform
What matters is that they have a common understanding of the principles and values of the reign of God and a commitment to realising those goals in their lives and in their society.
In the context of the current problems people have with St Mary’s, three things come to mind as important.
Firstly, it’s important for all of us to be aware that there are diff erent ideas about the Church, none of which can entirely encompass the reality of the Christian community.
Thinking of the Church as a society is legitimate and orthodox, and so is thinking of the Church as the new people of God, or as a sacrament.
Secondly, we all have to try to understand where the others are coming from and tease out the implications of thinking about the Church in this way or that.
Thirdly, all of these images of the Church are compatible with one another. They are not mutually exclusive.
If there is an aspiration I have, as a member of the congregation of St. Mary’s, it is that the theological, liturgical and social expressions of some of the broader concepts of the Church should be allowed to continue at St Mary’s, and indeed be encouraged, so as to explore ever richer meanings of the reality of the Church.
Pope Benedict was recently quoted as saying, “Everyone has a place in the Church, every person without exception should be able to feel at home and never rejected”.
There is a place in the Church for those who wish to see the “traditional” Latin Mass maintained.
There is a place in the Church for those who think of the Church as a hierarchical society.
There must also be a place in the Church for people who are inspired by some of the biblical images of the Church elaborated in Vatican II, and who wish to explore the expression of these images.
Dermot Dorgan spent fifteen years in the Columban Fathers and has worked in the fields of overseas aid, community development and social justice education, most recently as Coordinator of the Romero Centre for refugees in Brisbane.